I was surprised to discover the 19th hole at the World Amateur Handicap Championships in Myrtle Beach is a lot like the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando - only with loads of free alcohol and fewer saleswomen in cheerleader outfits. Some big nam… more »

Take 120 players competing in stroke play split into foursomes (most holes have an A and B group) and put them on a Pete Dye-designed course and you've got a recipe for a tidy and efficient 6.5-hour round of golf. Such was the case today at the Dye B… more »

Some professional athletes cheat with steroids, amateur golfers sandbag. The World Amateur Handicap Championship in Myrtle Beach is notorious for "sandbaggers". I've been analyzing some scores, online at the World Am website and also at the 19th hole… more »

While critics shed their two cents on the controversial new FedEx Cup playoffs, 3,778 die-hard amateur golfers have bigger things on their minds: The PGA Tour Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championships, starting Monday morning. The "World Am" is… more »

I'm thumbing through the new Golf Magazine World Top 100 Ranking. I like the world rankings better than the U.S. version, because just about all of the world courses offer at least limited public play, versus the private-heavy American list that only hel… more »

I know Barclays and the PGA Tour are feeling slighted this week as Tiger Woods ditches the inaugural event of the FedEx Cup, making it just another second-tier tournament on the schedule Tiger won't compete in, so he can sail his yacht or sky dive or wha… more »

Wales is self-admittedly not as developed as a global tourist destination compared to Scotland, Ireland and England. It's a trade many towns and hotels are learning as they go. "Wales is what Scotland and Ireland were twenty years ago," is a common sayin… more »

Wales has some considerable ground to make up before becoming a formidable rival to neighboring Scotland and Ireland's golf tourism, especially with North Americans. I haven't run into any others here in five days and most clubs tell me few pass through,… more »

In discussions I've had with other golf industry people about Wales, one particular course has come up more than any other. It isn't Ryder Cup host Celtic Manor or the country's most prestigious links Royal Porthcawl. "Be sure to see Pennard," they a… more »

Wales desperately wants to host the world's top international golf events. So much so, they built the first golf course specifically designed for the Ryder Cup Matches - which will come to the country for the first time in 2010 at the Celtic Manor Resort… more »

Welsh Tour operators tell me roughly 90% of their guests have been on a Scotland or Ireland golf trip before Wales. It's stiff competition in the British Isles, and this country, on the southwest end of England is making more and more noise. There is… more »

The WGC Bridgestone Invitational wasn't the only big win for Tiger Woods Sunday. He also won ESPN's Who's Now?, an interactive quest to determine the world's most "now" athlete. I'm not the first blogger to rip Who's Now? Kiel Christianson whined abo… more »

Tadd Fujikawa and Michelle Wie shared common youthful dreams: escaping the grim, hopeless prison of the Hawaiian Islands for a brighter future in pro golf. Wie's path - after a promising start - has been rocky, which is more than Fuji can say so far.… more »

I've been silent on the "Steroids in Golf" debate. Mostly because it isn't so much a "debate" as it is a blind witch hunt. All of this coverage seems to have been fabricated and forced by the press in search of a gritty tour underbelly that doesn't e… more »